Know your enemy
by Dieuwtjin
Summary: After losing all of her friends in the future, Lucina is sent back through time in a desperate last attempt to prevent the destruction of the world. Armed with knowledge of Robin's true identity, she sets out to kill him before he has a chance of becoming the fell dragon. Darkish and realistic.
1. In Grima's wake

**Introduction:**

Hello everyone, and welcome to my story on fire emblem: awakening. What you are (hopefully) about to read is a result of a series of ideas I've had on what would make a fun storyling and how to fix some of the original story's shortcomings. First and foremost of those, I wanted to add significant depth and overall competence to the main villains, whose motivations are, quite frankly, heavily lacking IMHO :) There are a number of other ideas I had, but I'd like to bring those up one by one rather than spilling them all right away.

That aside, another thing I wanted to do was to write a Lucina/Robin-centric story that is different from the other masses of those. If you read through this first chapter, at the end you will probably understand why.

Lastly, I am a large fan of realistic and more darkish fantasy stories. Expect Game of Thrones-ish like realism, as far as I can push it within the established lore of the fire emblem universe. People WILL sometimes die, as they should in the kind of wars the Shepards are involved in.

Also, thanks go to Bartholemew Kamiro for beta reading the first half of the chapter.

That said, enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own fire emblem awakening.**

Warning: minor spoilers for the Future's past DLC 3, if that matters to you. This story deviates from the setup almost immediately.

_**Know your enemy, chapter 1: In Grima's wake.**_

Ylisse was in ruins.

Even the castle, the last bastion of humanity in the war-torn World, had been turned into a cruel cacophony of half-recognizable structures that had once belonged to a larger whole.

For as long as she could remember, Lucina had called this place her home.

From here, she had assumed command of Ylisse's forces when her father died. She had been only twelve years old, tasked with defending her entire race from the Risen and the traitors that worshipped Grima.

She had believed for _so _long that, despite the horrible losses sustained against their enemies, they would somehow find a way to win; to somehow pave the way to a brighter future. She had to, otherwise she would have lost her sanity long ago.

There had even been a spark of hope a few months ago, when Tiki, the voice of Naga, had come up with a plan to reawaken the Falchion's power. It would have been a weapon that could have actually killed Grima, the root of all destruction that had gripped the world.

But now…

Yesterday, Grima had appeared before her and lady Tiki while they were _inside_ the castle of Ylisse, and had killed the priestess seemingly without any effort whatsoever. No, that wasn't right. The reality was even worse; Grima had come for _her_ and Tiki had been forced to sacrifice herself in order to save her.

In the end, despite all of her experience and martial prowess, Lucina simply fell short of the power of a living god. And Tiki, the closest thing to a living god on the side of light, who might have stood some chance in her stead, had paid the price for it.

And now she had failed again. Instead of running away from the city, she had elected to hide among the ruins, hoping against hope that her friends would show up with the gems needed to perform the awakening.

It would have given them a perfect opportunity, the strategist inside her had reasoned. Grima had finally exposed himself; he was within striking distance inside of a city of which she knew every hook and cranny; it might have been possible to sneak up on him and stab him in the back.

The more emotional part of her had simply refused to leave her home out of principle. In her mind, this place was the last vestige of hope and without it…

The princess shook her head. No matter the reason, it didn't change the current situation.

Grima had found them.

"DO NOT MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF," the being in front of her called out. Purple clouds of dark magic radiated from the human body he inhabited, which stared directly at her with cruel reddish eyes. From the very few glimpses she had had of this being in the past, she had always figured that the body was some kind of reanimated corpse that Grima used as a puppet; the translucent form of the actual dragon surrounding the solid human body had been a way to visually remind all who saw him that he dominated mankind. She had thought it had been a way to further discourage the remaining resistance.

Now, she wasn't so sure. There was a real consciousness and overwhelming malevolence behind those human eyes. It was the kind of being, or man, that would slaughter and torture countless innocents without a second thought, just for its own amusement, as it had done innumerable times in the past.

Memories of such atrocities flooded her mind and she tried her very best to suppress them. Back then, there had always been a more powerful warrior to challenge it, to draw it's attention away from Lucina and her friends as they escaped the battle.

Now, no one would come to save them. All of the old shepherds were dead. Of the new shephards, only Gerome, Severa and Laurent had made it back to deliver her the fire emblem and one of the gemstones needed to perform the awakening.

They were four stones short; all of their other friends whom she had sent out had not returned from their respective missions. It had been weeks; why hadn't any of them returned yet? Were they all –

The hopelessness of the situation forced her to confront the only sensible conclusion, the one she had dreaded during the past weeks. Her friends had failed; they were most likely all dead.

'_Dead because I asked them to. I ordered them to go on a hopeless mission and they all accepted, for my sake. Gods forgive me, I had no choice!'_

Her stomach felt like ice.

"So you continue to defy me, " Grima said, moving ever closer.

Lucina froze. The thing had actually spoken with its human mouth. Did that mean the… man standing inside of the dragon silhouette was still alive? Or was _that _the real Grima instead?

...How many of the fallen shephards had had that same thought, right before they died?

"Tell me, why do you cling to hope? Naga's voice is dead. Your minions have failed; some have been captured by my Risen, others are dead. You cannot even complete the Awakening! Surely you realize you have lost?"

The dragon let out a long sigh, purple smoke trailing from his incorporeal nostrils. "This will be your last chance. NOW GIVE ME THE EXALT! THE ONE KNOWN AS LUCINA!"

Lucina, in turn, steeled herself. No matter what she thought or felt, she was a leader. She had always been a leader. She'd never show fear! "Do you really think we will hand these artefacts over to you!?" she spat.

"Your words are empty," Gerome added, his voice icy. "You have no hold over our the others and they will be here soon. Today is the day that you die, monster!" Minerva blew smoke through her nostrils below him, something Gerome had once told her was a clear sign of her approval.

"That's right! There's no way any of them would let themselves get captured! Even the less worthy ones," Severa added.

"I'm inclined to agree," Laurent cut in, adjusting his glasses. "It is more likely that you're bluffing. If it were as you claim, you would have proof. You have refused to or are unable to present any, ergo you lie. There is no logical reason to trust you, either. Accepting your proposal is unacceptable in any way."

Lucina briefly smiled despite the situation; the fact that her friends were unwilling to give up further kindled her own willpower. But then she slid back into her mask; the normal hard and serious expression she always had.

It was time to fight a god, without the awakening ceremony. Deep down inside, she knew that they probably stood no chance.

She unsheathed the Falchion regardless. They didn't have to win; all they had to do was to keep Grima busy, to buy enough time for the rest of their friends to join them...

"We refuse!" She cried, clutching the emblem and the Gemstone with her other arm. To her sides, her friends all tensed. Severa raised her shield and slid into a defensive stance while Gerome readied his lance. Minerva leaned forward, readying her body for a massive pounce which would cross the 30 or so feet to Grima without any trouble. Laurent drew power from his tome and held the collected essence at his palm, a concentrated fist of pure electrical energy.

They'd fought together countless times. And each of those times, they had survived. Despite their age, they were the best that humanity had left to offer; destroyers of countless risen.

Yet Grima only laughed, completely unconcerned with the display of defiance. "Foolish girl. I do not care about the fire emblem or the gemstone. I have already won."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself!" Lucina replied.

"Did you think this was anything other than a game for me? Do not insult my intelligence!" Grima cried. Smoke flared up around him and waves of dark magic flew outward, making everyone present stumble backwards.

"I am ancient! Did you honestly think that I would be unaware of the one thing able to kill me, servant of Naga? Did you honestly think I did not foresee this!?" Grima bellowed, beginning the handwavings for a spell.

Lucina had been about to cry out a warning, but the attack came too fast. Laurent's beam of magic shot forward, but missed. Gerome barely managed to steady himself as Minerva fell backward from the force, while Severa ducked behind the remains of a small wall. As far as Lucina could see, they were all encased in a purple cloud.

Then came the spikes.

Screams of pain followed.

Years of near-continuous battle had given the princess almost supernatural reflexes and it was only by the grace of those that she herself escaped with only one of them skewering her through the stomach. Nauseating pain flared up immediately and it was only by surpreme force of will that she continued to stand, clutching the bleeding wound with the same hand holding the fire emblem.

Lucina gasped in horrer as she saw that her friends had not been so fortunate. The image was horrible; Gerome's heavily armored form sat slumped on a prone Minerva, who in turn lay in a bool of a readily enlarging pool of her own blackish blood. Severa had blood all over her legs, and struggled to stand but couldn't manage.

Even Laurent, who was by far the most knowledgeable about -and consequently resistant to- magic, was bleeding from numerous cuts in both his clothing and his face. "S-such extreme quantities of magical power..." the mage muttered through grit teeth. "It," he gasped, "defies logic."

Or as anyone else would put it, they were doomed.

_'Hold out,'_ Lucina told herself. _''The others will be here soon. They have to be!" _

"Don't think... you can... defeat us so easily!" Lucina cried, cursing herself for letting the pain get to her.

Grima smiled. "Defeat you? You were beaten from the start." The tone of amusement was infuriating.

"You! Stop speaking in riddles, damned cur!" Gerome suddenly spat, all the while sliding himself from Minerva's body to the ground. He would have collapsed on contact if Lucina hadn't rushed forward in an attempt to awkwardly support him. Her stomach wound hurt like nothing she had ever felt before, but she was NOT going to let her friend fall prostrated to their enemy!

"Very well then," the being in front of them declared. "Know that I destroyed all the gemstones years ago. What you have tried to seek were replica's; imperfect creations of my power designed only to draw the remaining servants of Naga from their fortress. I believe you carry one of them."

The gemstone Lucina possessed suddenly tore itself from the emblem, flying right into Grima's outstretched palm. It instantly dissipated into a cloud of black smoke, just like one of the many surrounding the dragon's human body.

"Ah, such pure magical essence," Grima spoke approvingly.

"No, that's impossible! The voice said-" Lucina sputtered, refusing to believe it.

"-What she thought was the truth, the truth _I_ gave her. I know of Naga's machinations and how to imitate them," the dark god cut in.

"You... you flilthy bastard!" Severa cursed through gritted teeth. She had pulled herself up on Minerva's scales and clung to them desperately. Lucina was afraid to look at her legs; they were a mass of red from what she could see. If they _somehow _survived this, would she ever- ?

The princess' vision suddenly spun and she threatened to lose her grip on Gerome. She forced the feeling of light headedness away and realized that she was losing too much blood, herself. If Brady didn't get back to heal them soon...

"There is no need to feel ashamed," said Grima. "You are humans and you fell to the trap of a god. It was the only possible outcome."

"Bull...shit!" Severa insisted. "You were afraid of us! So you had to use traps like a coward!"

The body clad in dark clouds shrugged. "Believe what you will, servant of Naga. It changes nothing. The Grimleal and Risen whom I've left behind have your friends, or the ones who still cling to life, at least. You are all that is left. Do you require proof? Here it is."

The human form moved, and the sound of a single metallic item falling to the ground rang throughout the ruined city.

"Is that... Inigo's ring?" Laurent asked.

"He must have lost it in the fighting," Lucina countered immediately. "It doesn't mean anything."

"AT TIMES, I DO FIND HUMAN STUBBORNNESS AMUSING. HE IS DEAD, HUMAN. HE DIED HOLDING A BRIDGE WHILE THE ONES HE SOUGHT TO PROTECT WERE CAPTURED BY MY MINIONS," Grima chided while his translucent dragon form flared up again.

"Liar!" Severa said through gritted teeth. "Think you can keep pushing us around? I've... had... enough!" She took a few stumbling steps forward.

"Severa! NO! Get back!" the princess yelled.

"OH? I SEEM TO HAVE A POINT TO MAKE," The dragon said lazily.

"I... won't... let...!" The swordswoman began, speaking after each wobbly pace.

Grima stood in place, patiently waiting her approach.

"Fool! Stop that!" Gerome yelled while shrugging out of Lucina's grip. He took two paces before he stumbled from his wounds and fell. He caught himself halfway by supporting himself on his lance, but it was clear that there was no way he could move further.

_'Just one spell,' _Lucina thought in horror. _'He needed only one spell to do this to us... even to Gerome, of all people?' _

Severa, in turn, refused to listen. Just as she came within a few paces of the god, she suddenly lunged forward far quicker and attacked more precise than Lucina would have thought possible in her state.

_'A trick?' _

The princess' eyes widened as Severa's blade struck true, burying itself in the human figure. Had she actually managed to-?

Grima hand shot out and grabbed her friend by the wrist. The sound of cracking bones was nowhere near as loud as the scream of pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"SOME LESSONS CAN ONLY BE LEARNED BY FORCE," the dragon said. Inside the cloud of darkness, the human form drew some kind of weapon.

"WAIT!" Lucina cried, struggling to move forward but held back by the intense pain from her wound. "Stop it! _Please!"_

"IS THIS REALLY THE BEST YOUR SERVANTS CAN DO, NAGA? WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN ASHAMED BEHIND THAT MASK OF BENEVOLENCE?," Grima idly asked towards the sky, before setting his gaze back on his captive. Lucina saw the slashing motion he made she saw the effect. A streak of black light covered her friend...

And she was torn apart.

"NO! SEVERA!" she screamed.

The image in front of her was almost too horrible to comprehend. What had once been her friend was now a mess of blackened meat of which some pieces were still recognizable. Grima's dragon form seemed to smile at his work.

Gerome looked away. Laurent was speechless.

Lucina's gaze was locked to what had once been the woman so close to her that she had been like a second sister to her. And now that she saw what had became of her, she _knew._

Grima hadn't been lying; Their friends had failed. Naga and her voice had been defeated, as had they. Grima would kill them all and that would be it; all their years of resistance against the Risen had been for nothing. Countless sacrifices of good men and women would amount to nothing. All their struggles, all the hardships they had endured meant NOTHING.

The world was destined to be destroyed.

"Why?" Lucina found herself say.

The dragon form focussed on her. Gerome forced himself up and made to stand in front of her, protecting her as he had always done, but she took a step past him. She didn't deserve his protection; the three of them were all that was left. Rank held no meaning, regardless of what he thought.

...and that was even without taking into account that she was the one who had sent all of their friends into the fell dragon's trap. Their blood was on her hands as much as it were on Grima's.

"DO I NEED A REASON?" Grima spoke, amused. "AND IF I HAD ONE, WHY WOULD I TELL YOU?"

"WHY DID YOU LET US LIVE SO LONG!?" Lucina yelled, unable to keep the anger and sorrow from spilling over. "If it is so easy for you to finish us, why didn't you!? Why only now? What reason did you have for letting us keep resisting!?"

The human figure in the black cloud walked towards her, taking along the dragon outline as he went. Gerome tried to force himself past her again, but she held him off. This time, for what little is was worth, she would protect him instead.

"Hmmm. Since you alone carry the blood of Naga now, I will grant you an answer. Simply put, I was bored," the fell dragon answered, stopping just a few paces away from her. Lucina knew that if he wanted to, he could kill both her and Gerome in an instant in the same way he had killed Severa.

"That... cannot be the truth," Laurent commented. "It does not make any sense! Only a completely insane-"

An immense tidal wave of dark magic suddenly flew towards him. The mage barely had enough time to raise a defensive barrier before he was hit by the spell.

When it cleared, it left a shallow crater filled with a faintly sizzling purple glow. Of Laurent, or any of the structures in a 20 feet radius around him, there was no trace. It was as if they had suddenly stopped existing.

Lucina looked away. There was an overwhelming urge to cry at the hopelessness and sorrow of the situation, but she _refused_ to give Grima the satisfaction.

"Oh, I am sorry. I felt that being interrupted every other sentence was growing tiresome," the fell dragon's human body said, even adding apologetic hand gestures in a complete mockery of human mannerisms.

"You were bored," Lucina stated. "Is that really your reason for destroying the entire world? For ruining everyone's lives!?"

"No, that was for revenge, servant of Naga. Leaving it just weakened enough for some meaningful resistance to arise, _that_ was to entertain us while we searched," Grima answered. "You were an admirable amusement. For that, you have my gratitude. It also marks you as worthy."

The strangest thing was, she actually believed he was sincere. Perhaps it was despair or perhaps it was just her sanity slipping away, moments before death.

"Searched? For what?" Gerome spoke through gritted teeth, still clutching his spear despite his wounds. "What... ugh... what could possibly drive you to commit genocide the way you have? And what do you mean by 'worthy'?"

Besides her master, Minerva's prone body let out a weak hiss.

Grima's gaze shifted towards them. In Lucina's mind, there were two brief images of both Severa and Laurent having died at only a moment's notice.

She reacted instantly, throwing herself forward so that she was barely a pace apart from the dark god. "No, ignore him! You said you wanted me? Well, I am here. Let him go! He was just a soldier following my orders..."

The princes was unable to hold Grima's gaze as flashes of her friends came to her, brief images from happier times.

Of Degel, with her endless drive to become the perfect female soldier, whose exercising regime was supposedly even harsher than that of her father.

Of Severa, always full of snarky comments yet probably by far the most dedicated one to her safety aside from Gerome.

Of Brady and his many foul mouthed comments whenever someone managed to hurt himself. But who, when it came down to it, had a surprisingly soft side.

Of Inigo, who had been systematically rejected by every woman he had hit on as long as her own memory stretched, yet who had never let his smile or energy falter, even when pointed out his failures by Nah, which had been by far one of the most humorous conversations in the past years. Strangely, looking back at it, Inigo had never tried to hit on Lucina herself, and she had never figured out why. She never would, either.

Of Laurent and Noire, arguing on whether or not Noire could start studying dark magic under his tutelage, often leading to comical scenes of blood and thunder. It was too late now, either way.

Of Owain and his sword hand, the duo which had often argued with Cynthia over which of them made the more proper hero.

_Cynthia..._

Her sister had never taken their mother's death well. Some part of her sanity had stopped working then and Lucina had never been able to restore it.

The list of memories went on...

"They all were," she added, sounding hollow and tired even to herself.

"Lucina..." Gerome started.

"Go," Lucina stated.

"And leave," he grunted, "Leave you to die? Or whatever else that _thing_ decides to do to you?" the soldier replied dismissively.

"Gerome, as your Exalt, I hereby _order_ you to run; take Minerva and go. This will be the last thing I ask of anyone," Lucina continued in the same hollow tone.

"HUMANS AND THEIR EMOTIONS," Grima mused. "IT-"

"What is it that you want of me?" Lucina cut in, not wanting to give him any time to reconsider killing her friend on the spot. Maybe if she held onto some momentum she could maintain control of the conversation. If only Gerome would stop being stubborn and choose life, maybe he could even find a way any survivors, provided there were any. He was strong enough to do it.

The obscured human figure rested his head on a closed fist, as if thinking. Some part of her was disappointed that, even from this close by, she still couldn't see what the body must have looked like. If she had known which human had become this avatar of destruction, would it have changed fate?

"YES. IT IS TIME THIS GAME IS ENDED," Grima agreed, luckily deciding not to kill Gerome for speaking. Both his human and dragon head turned to stare straight at her simultaneously. "YOU WILL GIVE YOURSELF TO ME, SERVANT OF NAGA. YOU WILL BE MINE IN BOTH MIND AND BODY, AND YOU WILL DO SO WILLINGLY. THUS, THE LAST OF HER CURSED LINE WILL TURN ON ITSELF. DO SO, AND I WILL SPARE YOUR FRIEND."

"I accept," Lucina replied instantly, not even concerned about what that meant. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that at least one of her friends survived. Perhaps she'd get one shot at Grima with his guard down. After that she'd kill herself if Grima hadn't done so already. It was a very morbid plan, but it was the only thing that could be done.

Grima laughed, then scared her out of her wits by suddenly launching himself backward through the air a good twenty feet. "Then come and accept my gift," he said, extending his human arm. For the first time, both the dragon and the human head fixated completely on her as she began to walk forward, following her every step of the way.

_'Why is he doing this? Did he increase the distance just to make it more of a torture for me? To gloat over his victory more!?'_ the princess thought bitterly as she slowly moved forward. The wound in her side made every step both a physical and a mental torture.

She dropped the fire emblem to pressure the wound more. After all, it was only added weight. There was something really humiliating over having forced her friends to go through such a tedious journey to recover it, also their last journey period, only to let it drop to the floor. Effectively, it was no more than a piece of metal among a ruined city.

Something behind her stirred. Gerome mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Minervykins', but that couldn't possibly be right.

It almost made her look around one last time.

As she approached the dragon further, she was suddenly stricken with a horrifying thought. _'What if I lose my own will after I touch him? Will I still have the strength left to end myself?'_

Even though she knew that any hesitation on her end could be the death of her friend, she was unable to keep the tremor out of her arm as she slowly reached for Grima's. No. She wouldn't go in fear! She loathed this thing with every fibre of her being, and decided to focus on it. The faces of her friends resurfaced one final time as she imagined them being killed, or worse, by risen or Grimleal. When she reached the last two, Severa and Laurent, her hate was so strong that it had completely replaced fear. It was so strong that even if she were to lose herself completely, at least some of it _should _remain.

He took her hand in a strong, rough grip. Strangely, its hand felt very... scaly, for a human.

Then came the blackness.

* * *

Gerome watched Lucina go. Tons of emotions fought for dominance, all of them relating to hidden feelings he had never shown.

He wanted to curse fate. Now, at the end, it would be his weakness that forced Lucina to sacrifice herself? It was both laughable and pathetic.

He was even too weak to stand properly; the only thing he could do was watch helplessly as she limped forward, into the arm of the thing that kept staring at her with a predatory grin...

_'Its attention is on her alone!'_

Lucina had a chance.

As soon as the realisation hit him, he forgot his self-pity and _acted._ He let himself fall to the side, then rolled up to Minerva. Next to the wyvern herself, her armour and the gear she carried were both damaged badly. All in all, it was a miracle she hadn't died yet.

_'Though the same can be said about me,' _he realized bitterly.

Luck beyond luck, the bag that carried the item was undamaged. In this simple bag he had a vial of the extremely rare elixir, the most powerful healing concoction still known to the humans. He had taken it from the corpse of a Grimleal traitor months ago, yet neither he nor his friends had needed its protection. Until now.

He threw out a bleeding arm and managed to clumsily grip the potion. Yet his fingers wouldn't move to uncork the bottle; he couldn't move them accurately somehow. It had to be related to his arm being pierced by spikes; it had felt oddly numb and cold afterwards even for a wound.

But he still had enough strength left to crush the glass instead.

Much of the precious liquid was lost. He only drank a few drops, barely enough to cover the most severe wounds. The effect was nearly instantaneous; he could feel the feeling in his arm returning, among other things. He glanced quickly to the side and saw that Lucina had crossed over half the way to Grima.

The soldier forced himself up to his knees and snuck closer to the wyvern's head, hoping the companions massive size would provide some cover from Grima should he look their way.

"Minervykins," he said, drawing her attention. Her massive head slowly turned towards him, accompanied by a pair of intense yellow eyes easily the size of a human fist.

He would miss those eyes.

"Drink this," he said, emptying the remainder of the vial over her tongue. It wouldn't be nearly enough to fully heal a wyvern, but it would have to do.

She stirred a second later, regaining some of her intensity. She huffed softly, asking what he wanted to do.

"There is but one thing I can do," he whispered. "The same thing I've always done. I need you to do what I told you if disaster ever came upon us."

She hissed, indicating it was suicide.

"We have no time to argue. Please. Do this for me."

She shook her head.

Lucina had almost reached Grima.

"Then I'll go alone." He tightened the grip on his spear and stormed forward.

* * *

She was being pulled into a void of nothingness, in which there were only herself and the figure nearby. The surrounding ruins of Ylisse, as well as all the pain from her wounds, faded into the same blackness and became more nondescript while the human in the blackness became clearer. It wasn't until she was nearly completely in the void that she realized who it was that she was looking at.

It was the human form of Grima, _without _the obscuring smoke. And she knew that person.

She had been only a little girl when she had seen him last, well over a decade ago, when this man had advised her father in any and all battles the old shepherds had taken part in. Each and every time, they had emerged victorious against overwhelming odds. He was a legend in his own right.

"Are you... Sir Robin?" Lucina asked, completely taken off-guard. "But why are-"

The answer was obvious and shock gave way to rage. Chrom had been betrayed by one of his closest friends. Robin had disappeared without a trace. The old shepherds had always been very vague when discussing their tactician afterwards, and now she knew why; they had tried to hide this information from their children!

This was the true identity of the man, or god, she had been fighting all of her life.

Robin, in turn, only gave her a cold leer.

She reached for the Falchion, only to find it missing.

_'What? Where-'_

Robin crossed the distance between them in an instant and grabbed her by the throat. "I've waited so long for this, Naga. If only you were here to see what would happen to the last of your line," Grima's voice sounded from all around.

Lucina couldn't speak. For a moment, she wondered why she wasn't choking. But then the pain began.

It wasn't a normal pain, the kind produced by a cut, blunt trauma or even a broken bone. It was the kind of cold pain a person felt when their very soul was ripped apart from the inside and was slowly replaced by something alien. If she could have, she would have screamed.

She pulled on Robin's arm with all her might only to realize that it was an unbreakable hold. This was strength far beyond what was possible of a normal human. Still she tried.

Eventually her arms fell limply to the side. She was frozen as her very self was being pushed out, further and further away...

...it was becoming hard to think...

...What was her name? Why was she here...?

Then she fell.

The last thing she remembered was the man in front of her looking at her with a puzzled expression.

* * *

Gerome left his spear impaled in Grima and threw Lucina backwards. Behind him, Minerva swiftly took her unconscious form in her mouth and made to fly off.

Grima stood in a daze, blinking in confusion. The masked soldier knew that if he let Grima completely snap out of whatever daze he was in, he'd be instantly killed. Minerva and Lucina would follow soon afterwards. He HAD to buy time, and he only had one idea of how to do so; both times Grima had attacked, the human body had used its arms.

He bull rushed the dark god's human form to the ground and managed to grab both his wrists before Grima finally turned to him. The black clouds surrounding the fell dragon seemed to burn his flesh right through his armor, but he held. There was no other option.

"YOU? HOW?" Grima asked, beginning to move his arms. To Gerome, it seemed as if he was trying to stop a rockslide with his bare hands, so unnatural was the being's sheer strength.

But he held.

"It's because I fight for someone else," Gerome replied through gritted teeth, forcing the arms back up, if even for a moment. He thought Grima's eyes widened slightly, just before... 'something ' launched him off of the fell dragon.

_'Wind magic... so it doesn't need its arms, after all?''_

The masked soldier landed in a heap some twenty feat away, feeling the ribs of his left side break as he did. He looked up just in time to see both of Grima's forms staring at him with matching looks of absolute hatred, the human arm already extended towards him.

More importantly however, Minerva was out of sight.

Thus, even knowing he was finished, Gerome smiled. He pictured Lucina in one of the rare moments that she had done so too. That was as good of a final image as any. He could tell his parents that he had died saving hope.

Then the blast of darkness came for him.

* * *

Something nudged her side.

The touch was faint, and Lucina was tired beyond belief. She also had a headache unlike any she had ever experienced before, even that one time where she had been intoxicated with-

Another push.

"Let me sleep," The princess murmured, uncaring of who it was.

Something scaly gently brushed against her cheek. Strange. It felt so tender? What kind of scaly being would-

Her mind cleared momentarily and flew back to the moment where her arm was grabbed by Grima. And then there was something that happened in the darkness… something excruciatingly painful and humiliating; yet it was hard to remember what, exactly.

She stiffened and suppressed a feeling of rising panic. Did the fell dragon actually lay next to her? If that was so… If he'd…

She didn't want to go down that line of thought.

The princes felt the familiar weight of the Falchion on her side, mentally preparing the attack.

There was another brush against her skin.

Lucina bolted upright, drew the Falchion and continued the motion into a lightning fast thrust aimed directly at…

…Minerva.

Her eyes widened and she barely managed to avoid skewering the wyvern through her eye.

Gerome's mount drew away, too slowly to have dodged the attack, and snorted. She looked at the princess wearily, then slowly lay down beside her.

It was only then that Lucina saw the wounds on her massive scaly form; there was dried black blood all over her, mixed at times with patches in which her scales were missing entirely. Flesh jutted outwards from some of those, whereas others were intact areas of lightly coloured… 'wyvern skin', as she decided to call it, yet without the scaly coverings.

In short, Minerva looked like an entire squad of Risen and Deadlords had hacked away at her mercilessly, then clumsily healed her up only so they could mostly repeat the process. It pained her to see such a proud creature reduced to such a state.

Sighing softly, she put away her sword, kneeled next to her and gently padded her on the snout, as Gerome had told her to do if Minerva was ever upset.

This seemed to calm her somewhat.

"Minerva? Where are we? And where is Gerome?" She asked, thoroughly confused. They weren't in the city any longer, nor were there any ruins in sight. It was just a barren landscape, akin to most of the world.

'_And what about Grima himself? Did he just... let us go?'_

She instantly felt some shame for not asking the wyvern how she was, first. On second thought, that had an incredibly obvious answer, so perhaps it was better that she hadn't.

The wyvern turned her head away and pointedly avoided eye contact.

"What? No, don't tell me he's-!"

She couldn't say it. Minerva still looked away.

"Why? I told him to flee! You could both have been fine!" Lucina cried in frustration. "Why didn't you let me sacrifice myself for you!?"

The wyvern snorted, then stared directly at her, implying that there was something incredibly obvious she was missing. But Lucina didn't notice.

She was crying; this time she couldn't stop her tears. Her failure was absolute. ALL of her friends were either dead or would soon be. Even if she decided to search for any survivors, she had no idea where to begin looking. And even if she did get any of them back, what was the point? The fire emblem was worthless. There was no way to actually harm Grima without the awakening.

There were only two possible outcomes to this scenario. Either the fell dragon would find her eventually and try to 'make her his in mind and body', or she decided to end it herself. Was that not preferable to continuing a pointless struggle even longer?

She drew the Falchion.

Minerva's eyes widened in fright. She struggled to stand up quickly but fell down halfway.

"Father, I'm sorry. I'm... just not sure why I should go on. I've lead everyone into ruin. Nothing I can still do will ever make up for it," Lucina spoke through her tears. "Maybe you would have seen some way to a brighter future, but I- I cannot. I just... want to see the others again."

Lucina let out a sobbing chuckle and readied her sword. She contemplated on whether or not she should have ended Minerva first, but that wasn't her own choice to make.

She closed her eyes.

Minerva bellowed.

"Lucina! Stop this!"

The exalt froze, then whirled around. She knew that voice. But it couldn't be...?

A translucent form of a green haired woman clad in a red outfit stared at her from behind. "Lucina. Please, don't act too rashly. You are not alone," she spoke soothingly.

The princess laughed humorlessly. "So I am hallucinating now," she concluded, still having the Falchion pointed towards herself. "I saw Lady Tiki die right in front of me."

The priestess shook her head. "No. What you saw was my physical body being destroyed. My spirit yet remains."

The exalt didn't believe her. "Prove that you are real," she demanded.

"I'd rather not," the voice of Naga replied. "My strength is waning. Even manifesting myself in a visible form is taxing. I have already spend too much of my remaining power piecing your soul back together."

There was a flash of Grima - no, Robin, Lucina reminded herself,- grabbing her by the throat as he did... _something_ to her. That had happened, and there was no way anyone else could know. Unless they were an omnipotent being, like Tiki had been.

She dropped her sword. "Why!? If you are real, why didn't you help us earlier today? And why should I even trust you now?" Lucina shouted. "My friends are all dead! I sent them away at _your_ advice of finding these stones, right into Grima's trap!"

Tiki closed her eyes and sighed. "I am sorry, though I fathom that does not give you any comfort. I allowed myself to be mislead, underestimating the fell dragon, and we all paid the price. As for your first question, had I intervened, Grima would have destroyed me. He believes I am dead."

"What good does that do?" Lucina replied, hollow. "It is over. With the gemstones destroyed, Grima has won. You told me this yourself."

Tiki came closer and looked her straight in the eyes. "I see I was not able to completely remove his taint," she replied in sorrow. "This defeatist attitude is not natural for the Lucina I knew."

Lucina would have replied but Tiki cut her off. "Listen, Lucina. Time is short; I can sense Grima approaching quickly. There is one thing we can still do to save this world."

The princess bit back a sarcastic response of why she was only told this after the plan they had staked everything on had failed, and allowed a tiny bit of hope to pierce her dark thoughts. "Really? Then what is it?"

"I will send you back in time," Tiki explained, "to the moment before the wars with Plegia and Valm. It is where Chrom met Robin."

"Where my father met Grima, you mean," Lucina corrected automatically, even before wondering about a thing such as time travel even being possible. There was a certain bitterness in knowing that crucial information had been systematically kept from them until it had been too late. At least, that's how she saw it.

"We had hoped that you would never have to find out," Tiki's image replied, sorrowful. "But yes; Robin is the one who killed your father."

_'Grima is coming,_' Lucina thought. _'Stop standing around and do something useful!_' she chided to herself.

"So what you want me to do is to kill Robin before he becomes Grima," she stated, picking up the Falchion and turning towards Minerva. The wyvern was now standing, albeit with difficulty, and eyes the form of Tiki wearily. At the very least, if the priestess was a mere illusion, Minerva had the same one.

Now If time was short, and if she was going, she'd need supplies. The wyvern didn't object as she cut the cords holding the bags that hung from her sides.

The priestess was thoughtful for a moment. "Yes. Perhaps that is the best choice."

"So why haven't we done this before?" Lucina then asked, picking up the fallen goods and placing them in her backpack. She idly noted that there was one bag filled entirely with masks, even though most of them were broken.

Tiki hesitated. "Because-"

"BECAUSE THERE ARE A FEW PROBLEMS WITH WHAT SHE SUGGESTS."

Lucina spun around. Minerva growled. Tiki gasped.

There, not even 30 paces away, was Grima's human body. There was no trace of the dragon form, making him resemble a vaguely humanoid cloud of purple smoke more than anything. How had he gotten here?

Minerva hissed quietly as the form casually walked towards them. Lucina could feel the wyvern's entire body tense, as if preparing to pounce on him in a moment's notice. She subtly bound her left arm through one of the reins, still holding the Falchion with her right.

"MOST NOTABLY, " Grima continued, completely uncaring, "IS THAT ACCORDING TO THE THEORUM OF CHRONOS THE ELDER, ANY INTERFERENCE MEANS THAT THE PRESENT TIME WILL BE COMPLETELY DESTROYED, ALONG WITH EVERYONE IN IT. THEY WILL BE BOTH ERASED FROM EXISTENCE AND WILL NEVER EXIST, ALONG WITH THE TIME TRAVELLER HERSELF, DUE TO THE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES OF A FUTURE BEING ALTERED. CONCEPTION IS ONE OF THOSE POSSIBILITIES."

The princess' eyes widened slightly as the implications hit her. Both her friends and she herself would never be born?

The voice of Naga tensed.

"YOU WERE GOING TO TELL THE HUMAN, WEREN'T YOU, BASTARD CHILD OF NAGA? OR DID YOU INHERIT HER PREFERENCE FOR HALF-TRUTHS?"

"Do not presume to know me, beast. You are nothing more than a weapon without a purpose," the priestess replied scathingly.

"AS YOU ARE A PRIESTESS OF A 'GODDESS' WITH NO MORE FOLLOWERS," the fell dragon answered, amused. "BOTH OF US ARE RELICS, YET IT IS ONLY BY OUR WILL THAT THE FUTURE IS SHAPED."

"Tiki," Lucina spoke, "Do not listen to him! I do not care what may or may not happen to me. Do it. Send me back!"

The priestess hastily began channelling some kind of spell.

"And therein lies the second problem," said Grima, manifesting his dragon outline. "YOU DO NOT CARRY OUT A PLAN WHEN YOUR ENEMY KNOWS OF IT!"

Lucina saw it happen before it did. Even before Grima had a chance to attack Tiki, she acted. "Minerva! Go!"

The wyvern let out a massive roar and crossed the entire distance to the fell dragon in a mighty leap. The swordswoman, being bounded to it by her arm, was violently janked along with her, the force almost enough to dislocate her shoulder.

Grima idly looked at them and made another slashing motion, a streak of black light flying towards them. Minvera evaded to the side, but was still hit. She shrieked in pain and landed roughly on her side unwounded side, near Grima's feet.

Lucina, however, was not hit. She let go of the reign and landed within striking distance of a surprised Grima.

She knew she had only seconds to act and automatically fell back on a series of two consecutively strokes aimed at the human body's vital area's. The first one, intended to steady herself and put her opponent off balance, glanced harmlessly off of the scales.

But that wasn't the intent; it had told her that the scales were angled upward. She continued the motion into a jumping slash angled downwards and felt the blade slide through along the scales, then into flesh.

Grima stumbled backward, as she pulled the Falchion out. Even though the fell dragon regained his balance almost immediately, the blade was still covered in a few faint patches of blackish blood.

It showed her that even a god could bleed.

The thought had not even finished in her mind as another streak of black light flew right at her, impossibly fast. She instinctively raised the Falchion to block. Her vision gave out as the light suddenly intensified.

She wasn't sure what happened, but the next moment she was on the ground twenty feet away, pain all over her body. As her vision cleared, she could see Minerva's body to the side, with both one of her legs and her left wing having been torn off by the effect of the first attack. A very quick glance at herself told her that she was still somehow in once piece, though bleeding from a number of wounds.

Grima teleported next to her. "The voice cannot protect you twice. I suppose I will have to settle for just killing you."

The fell dragon raised his arm to fire.

Lucina summoned all of her remaining strength and forced the Falchion through the human body's foot.

The dragon stumbled and Lucina could _feel _an enormous blast of energy barely washing over her.

Then she fell into the ground. Blue light surrounded her as Grima's image began to distance itself further and further away, until it was only a small purple speck of dust. Then that, too, disappeared.

Lucina let her eyes close as fatigue and pain claimed her consciousness.

* * *

Grima watched the pool of symbols and blue light disappear, then turned to the voice of Naga. Her form was fading rapidly; she was a construct of ancient magic allowing a deceased individual to act out a certain amount of power before being removed from the world entirely.

One of Naga's machinations. A tool of great destruction, as it had proven in the past.

He teleported next to her image and grabbed her fading soul with his own. The bastard child's eyes filled with pain as he forced her mind to tell her where she had send the human. She was strong, stronger than he would have expected a half-breed to be. Her skill with forbidden magics was also admirable, considering this was one that could never have been used before.

But her mental fortitude was nowhere near the level of her mother, or him. Eventually, her fading mind broke like a twig trying to hold back a raging river.

All of the girl's memories on Lucina and her other companions flooded into Grima's mind, and he smiled. He then let the girl die.

He decided to stay a moment, to watch the effect that this sending to the past would have on this world. Was the theorum right? If so, how would Armageddon come? There weren't many things he hadn't seen yet over the ages, and the prospect of learning something no one else knew piqued his interest.

First, there were winds of increasing intensity, up to the point where large rocks were effortlessly heaved up into the air. As those continued to grow more and more dangerous, the earth itself lost coherency as pieces of land tore themselves apart from each other, then raised and lowered themselves seemingly at random. Those pieces of land, too, were torn apart by the violent winds, then reduced to dust as these pieces of land smashed into each other.

He heard the panicked voiced of his Worshippers, the Grimleal, begging him for salvation or deliverance, though their voices were quickly silenced as they fell towards their deaths into fissures in the unstable earth, or were torn apart by the winds. Life itself began to leave the land as this was true for all living things in equal measure.

Grima flew up as the land around him crumbled to dust, the winds unable to do anything to his form, and he continued watching. Eventually, the land and waters themselves seemed to fall deeper and deeper away, until nothing was visible but a black void.

He smiled. Like the theorum suggested, this timeline had ceased to exist entirely, except for the one thing that existed beyond the reach of the laws of time and nature; he himself.

As he opened a similar gate in time, he felt distinctly excited, like he hadn't been in a long while.

There was an entirely new world out there to destroy.

* * *

Lucina woke up to a feeling of distinct weightlessness, floating in an abyss of blue. Strange symbols of white light guided what appeared to be a tunnel of sorts. Behind her, the tunnel ended in a dark void. In front of her, there was a speck of light.

She took a moment to collect her thoughts. As far as she could guess, this had to be a place in between time, or apart from the normal time. The princess felt a distinct feeling of hope, as the fact that she was alive meant that Tiki had succeeded in sending her back. Now, all she had to do was reach the other end of the tunnel and kill Robin.

She tried to stand, but immediately stopped; moving was distinctly painful. She slowly, using the movements that hurt the least, rummaged through her bag to find some medicine. Eventually she found a medicine pack including a few vulneraries and some ointment. She tried to drink the vulnerary, only to find that the liquid did not fall out. It hung suspended in the bottle.

She unsheathed the Falchion and let it go.

It, too, remained floating until she took it back into her hand.

Apparently, nothing here moved unless she directly made it happen.

She idly wondered what explanation Laurent would have given for this, then forced all thoughts of her deceased friends from her mind. She wouldn't let herself become distracted or emotional.

Not knowing what else to do, she smashed the bottle and drunk the fluid while it hung right in front of her.

She could feel the effect of it as it slowly recovered some of her strength. She then took a good look at her wounds, and was horrified at how many lacerating wounds that one spell had managed to inflict on her; there was at least one large gash on each arm and leg, a few on her torso and one in her neck. She pulled of her tunic and started to apply ointment to the wounds, so that they would heal faster and not get infected.

If she was going to assassinate someone, she'd rather be as prepared as possible. Of course -she gritted her teeth- that didn't lessen the immense sting of these ointments.

Just as she finished patching herself up, she could feel... 'a change' in the tunnel. She looked around behind her and realized that the darkness was growing gradually larger. A moment later, the tunnel started shaking.

Her eyes widened in fear and she immediately ran at the other exit as fast as she could, glancing around occasionally to see that the darkness grew larger and larger, much quicker then the speck of light on the other end.

As she realized that she wasn't fast enough, she cursed herself for taking unnecessary time to address some of the wounds. Was she seriously going to fail, after having come so far, because of something that insignificant?

She reached at the light just as the darkness caught up with her, then extended ahead of her. She was forced to watch in apathy as the blue tunnel disintegrated in front of her, impossibly much quicker than any human could have ran.

She was left standing in utter shock as she realized their last hope had just been snuffed out.

Just as she was about to give up entirely, there was another change. The darkness itself seemed to tremble as a massive purple tunnel appeared right next to her. Then, a glowing purple mass of dark energy raced through it with enough speed to make the speed at which the previous tunnel had fallen apart look like a casual stroll.

_'Grima,' _Lucina realized.

She knew that the only thing left to do was to take a gamble.

The princess steeled herself and jumped into Grima's tunnel.

She was immediately swept away like a leaf in the wake of a storm. Her speed grew until she no longer knew what was happening.

* * *

"Chrom, we have to do something!" A somewhat highly pitched voice said.

Lucina slowly opened her eyes.

"What do you suppose we do?" came the answer. "Nothing like this has ever happened before."

Images of a blue haired, regally dressed man and a younger, blond-haired woman became increasingly clear.

"Well, she has a brand, doesn't she? That makes her family! She's even got blue hair like you."

The man paused. "I don't know. It doesn't explain the Falchion or-"

"Look, she's awake!" the woman cut in, quickly setting herself down and mostly obscuring Lucina's view.

"Hey there, I'm Lissa! What's your name?" She said, smiling at Lucina from up close.

It took a few moments for the blue haired princess' mind to clear to process who she was looking at. Could it really be...?

"Maybe you should let her stand first, Lissa," the man said in a friendly way, then he turned towards her.

"Come on, let's get you up," he said, extending his arm.

She took it without thinking. Was this really happening? Or had she died after all?

He pulled her up, then quickly supported her as she stumbled. "Easy now. It's clear you just had a pretty rough fight. Think you can stand?"

"I- fa- Yes," Lucina managed, barely keeping her thoughts and emotions in check. By the gods, was it hard not to cry.

"Good," Chrom replied, letting go. "I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me."

He crossed his arms. "Who are you? Why do you have a brand in your eye, and why do you have a sword that's completely identical to the Falchion?"

Before Lucina could answer, a new voice spoke up. "My lord. The other stranger is waking up."

A single thought cut through the chaotic mess that was Lucina's mind.

_'Grima!'_

* * *

**Author's notes:**

Evil cliffhangers are evil, I know, but I couldn't find a better cut off point. I think I did a decent job in characterising everyone, though it was a bit hard to imagine how Lucina, or any of the other shephards, would react to total defeat.

One of the other thoughts I had for a basis of a good story was to start off Lucina in the worst possible scenario for her, along with her knowing who Robin/Grima really is. There are a lot of cool scenes that could be written from this and I have a lot of coop concepts for some of them.

I'm hoping to hear some thoughts from readers on what they felt about the chapter. I'll continue the story so long as there is some sort of feedback on it.

-kind regards,

Dieuwtjin


	2. Worthy of legend

**Brief introduction:** Wow, I was surprised by the amount of reviews and follows chapter 1 received, so I'd like to thank everyone who did so, especially those who reviewed and shared their thoughts on it. I think I replied to all comments; if I missed you, that was probably by accident, sorry :(

Writing this chapter took quite a while since there were a lot of design angles to consider in addition to some scenes just being hard to write in general. Also, I wanted to reach a certain milestone I the story and not cut it halfway there. More on this in the author's notes.

Anyway, without further ado, it's time for chapter 2!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fire emblem.

**Warning:** this chapter contains some (minor) graphic violence and contains some adult themes (though not too explicitely).

_**Chapter 2: Worthy of Legend**_

Lucina whirled around.

There, barely a few paces away, was Grima. The fell dragon's human body lazily picked itself up from the ground, raising a hand in front of his face to ward himself from the bright sun. Any moment now, the black clouds surrounding the body would return and the dragon would begin the attack, cutting her reunion with her father short.

The princess immediately grabbed her sword, only to find that it wasn't there.

_'Not again!?' _she thought in panic. Just like the time in the black void, she was completely helpless if Grima decided to attack. And why wouldn't he?

"Hey! Are you _sure_ you're all right? You look kind of pale to me," Chrom asked from her side.

"Be on your guard!" Lucina shouted just as Robin fully stood.

The man standing behind Grima, a heavily armored knight, acted instantly and swept his lance at the black-cloaked figure's knees, roughly knocking him back to the ground. The tip of the knight's lance was then levelled at him. Behind her, Lissa gasped at the sudden display of violence.

"Gah!" Grima shouted, clutching his knee in pain. "Ouch! Wh-what was that for? Could you maybe, NOT hit me that hard!?" the human form asked.

Lucina's froze. That was a completely different voice than the one Grima normally used. Why was that?

She shook her head. No. This had to be some kind of trap; she wouldn't fall for the fell dragon's games. She had travelled along with Grima through time and it was far too much of a coincidence for her to end up exactly at the same place as the fell dragon's human form.

It was him! No matter what game Grima hoped to gain by playing dumb, Robin would die, and the fell dragon with him. She would see to it!

"Be silent," Frederick replied coolly to the fallen man. "And be glad you're still drawing breath."

The knight then turned to Lucina, eyeing her warily. "And you, hold it right there! Don't think for a moment that carrying a brand means you get to go free. We don't take kindly to spies, especially those that try to imitate the royal family!"

_'I-What...?'_

To her side, Chrom -her _father_, she still couldn't believe he was actually standing there- sighed in exasperation. "Frederick, I think you're pushing the distrust a bit. If she were a spy, who would she be sent to replace? Me? They'd have gotten my gender wrong."

The knight didn't lower his lance nor did he take his stare off her. "Be that as it may, my lord, I strongly advise caution. This whole situation reeks of oddities."

"Which is why we're going to give both of them a chance to explain themselves, _without _threatening to kill them while they do so," Chrom replied evenly. "I can understand disarming them, but this? This is going too far."

"Um, does that mean I can stand up now?" Robin tried.

"I am merely trying to ensure your safety, my Lord. " Frederick answered, ignoring the man under his armoured boot. "But very well."

"Wait!" Lucina cut in before the knight had a chance to release Robin. "You can't let him go! He's-"

She paused as she realized that what she was about to say was crucial. Everyone was looking at her, and even Chrom raised an eyebrow at the interruption. "Yes?" he said expectantly.

The princess mentally slapped herself as she realized she had spoken much too soon. She had never had the time to properly think on what she was going to say, and now she had cut any time for thought_ very _short indeed.

Her mind raced. What to do? Reveal the truth? Would they believe her without any proof? If she did, what would happen to the future? How far could she push the past? What about what Grima said, and what Tiki had been afraid of? She still existed, but did that mean she was safe from changes here in the past? Did the future, and her surviving friends, still exist? Would she effectively kill them, or herself, by telling the truth?

What if she stopped existed by revealing this and would thus be unable to actually help in killing Grima? They'd need her! She was the only one among them who had any experience in fighting either him OR his Risen!

...That aside, realistically, would they believe her even if she _did_ speak the truth _and _would take the Falchion and her brand as sufficient proof? Would they take her word that the seemingly harmless man at the end of a lance and held beneath a plated boot was secretly a dark god of destruction, and that _she_ was Chrom's unborn daughter?

It would have sounded far-fetched at best, she grudgingly admitted. But what could she do? She had to act anyway; at the very least, Robin couldn't be allowed to survive.

She reached an interim conclusion; the surest and safest way to kill Robin was to do it without having to reveal the truth. Now, she only had to find the right words to make Frederick strike him down.

"Well?" said knight pressed, his patience clearly thin.

"This man," she said, "is-"

She looked at the fallen man, meeting a look of obvious confusion and murdered innocence. Her anger spiked; she could just imagine the dark consciousness leering at her from behind that facade. He'd be smiling his same sick smile, wondering if she could bring herself to murder a seemingly innocent man.

If this worked, he would find out _very_ shortly.

The princess fell back into her mask of commanding seriousness, and started over. Years of being a monarch had told her that _how _you said something was often more important as what you actually said...

...especially if it was a lie.

"My name is Severa," She began, improvising on the first other female name that came to her. She repressed the image of her gruesome death. "I am the princess of Iris." She ignored the dismissive snort of the plated knight. "This man-" she pointed to Robin, "Is a necromancer who has ravaged the lands from which I come with his vicious minions! Countless innocents have been murdered and tortured at his whims! How could you _not _know him? There isn't any nation which has not cursed his name or condemned him to death!"

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. Lucina held her glare towards Robin unflinchingly; she let her hate shine through her mask. It was an emotion she had plenty of and had no trouble manifesting it.

"...Iris?" said Chrom, finally breaking the awkwardness. "You are in Ylisse. The last time this region was called by its legacy name was well over a thousand years ago."

He was the only one to speak, since the others were too dumbfounded to do so. Lissa looked at her in what could only be described as complete awe, whereas Frederick was trying very hard to keep the scowl off of his face. Robin, in turn, was horrified, his mouth opening and closing a few times yet making no sound.

"Your own name doesn't sound familiar, though," her father continued, frowning.

Lissa shifted her gaze to him, shocked. "What? Chrom, don't tell me you didn't pay attention in history class again!"

The prince blinked. "Er, well... I might have been training through most of those. Or out on patrol. I can't remember which, exactly."

_'Whatever excuse was more convenient, wasn't it, father?' _Lucina thought in amusement, though not dropping her glare. Even in her earliest memories of him, he had always preferred taking action to studying.

_'... or planning,' _she added, sobering immediately. Her father's lack of that had lead to him becoming overly reliant on Robin, which in turn had directly lead to his death.

She balled her fist. This time would be different!

"Hmpf!" Lissa answered, putting her arms in her sides and trying to assume some sort of lecturing pose. The effect hopelessly failed, since she was a good two heads short on her brother, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. "Princess Severa was the legendary leader of the Irisean league in the sixth era after Marth. We only won the unification war because of her!"

_'Thank you, Lady Cordelia, for naming your daughter after someone from the royal family. It was extremely convenient.'_

"Really? A legendary hero, huh?" The elder sibling asked, turning towards Lucina again. "Interesting," he mused, glancing her over. Lucina was suddenly very conscious of her clothing; it was torn up pretty badly, not to mentioned covered in a more than fair amount of blood. As far as first impressions went, she figured her appearance didn't score her any points, especially for a supposed legend.

He eventually turned back to his sister, breaking off his inspection. Lucina breathed a mental sigh of relief; there was something highly uncomfortable about being scrutinized by her father that way.

"Wait a moment. How do _you_ know this, Lissa?" Chrom asked. "You don't like studying any more than I do."

"Oh, I think it's fun. But only when it relates to knights and heroes!" Lissa replied.

...Did her aunt's eyes just glance over Frederick as she said that? But that couldn't be right...

"We are going off track! My lord, my lady, why are both of you so calm when met with such outrageous lies?" The brown haired knight stated sternly. His hard eyes met Lucina's. "Do you seriously think we'd believe you are a time traveller? Someone whom history has decreed to have been dead for centuries, if not millennia?"

"I do not like it any more than you, Sir knight," Lucina countered. "But... if what your lord says is true, I believe I have fallen from my own time. I cannot give a better explanation. Though perhaps he can, since he used the dark magic that brought us here!" she finished, pointing at Robin.

It was time to take another gamble. If history was really repeating itself, then Robin had amnesia and would have difficulty talking his way out of this.

"Very well," Chrom agreed. "Let's hear what our other stranger has to say. Let him go, Frederick, but be ready just in case."

The knight hesitantly complied. "But, my Lord, you are not _actually_ considering believing her story, aren't you? It's a load of pegasus dung!"

"We will know soon enough," the blue haired lord stated.

Lucina tensed as the tactician picked himself up. If Chrom believed her, would Grima reveal himself and attack? She had to be ready. Where was her Falchion? She glanced through the surrounding area frantically;where was it!?

"Well, you've heard what your... 'companion' accuses you of," the prince spoke to Robin. Lucina flinched at the poor choice of words. "Do you have anything to say to those claims? I'm sorry about the safety precautions," he added apologetically, vaguely waving at Frederick's direction, who still had a lance in his back.

"I-" Robin began, then abruptly stopped, clutching his head. "I... No, I don't."

Chrom's eyes widened in shock. "What? You don't? You admit it's true!?"

Frederick readied his lance while Lucina frantically continued her search for the falchion. She finally located it, found on the far side of an armored horse bound to a tree nearby- Frederick's; no doubt.

She was about to make a break for it when Robin continued.

"No, don't misunderstand! I just... don't know. I can't remember anything!" the tactician quickly added.

The prince sighed; whether from relief, disappointment or frustration, Lucina couldn't tell. "Nothing? Hmmm. Then what about your name?"

The tactician looked away. "I-"

"His name is Robin," Lucina cut in. "And as you can see, he's trying his very best to appear clueless."

"On that, we can agree," Frederick said, nodding grimly.

Grima's human body turned to her with a clearly annoyed look. "Ok, let's get one thing straight. I have no clue why you hate me so much, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a necromancer. And I really can't remember anything, so a little bit of pity would be highly appreciated."

The princess snorted. "Did you even listen to what I said!? I explained my reasons quite clearly. Do you think your act is fooling anyone?"

"Wait. So your name _is_ Robin?" Chrom asked the black-cloaked man.

"I- well, Yes. I believe so," Robin answered after hesitating for a moment. "Why?"

"Then you put me in a difficult position," Chrom began. "You claim to have no memory of events, while a member of the royal family accuses you of crimes against humanity. I am unsure of what to do with you."

Robin was about to respond when Frederick cut him off.

"Surely you mean a 'supposed member of the royal family', my lord?" the knight questioned, glancing over Lucina while still holding Grima's vessal at lance point.

"No; I meant what I said. The fact that she has a brand in addition to the Falchion is, for now, proof enough for me," her father reasoned, then gestured to his side, where his Falchion was sheathed. "Unless you're willing to claim that humanity was wrong about there only being one of those all this time?"

Hope swelled up in Lucina like never before. It was working!

"It could be a forgery, as could the brand," Frederick pointed out. "Never underestimate what dark magic can do. I can imagine a ploy to cause internal strife in Ylisse by having an illegimate heir appear to claim the throne for herself. Apologies to your father's honour, of course," the knight quickly added.

"He's right," Lucina agreed, surprising Chrom and Lissa. "I can imagine his distrust. However, I can also guarantee you that I have no such intentions. I am willing to swear it on my life, if that puts you at ease. Do you require an oath of fealty?"

After all, even if –gods forbid it- all other members of the royal family somehow died and the people of Ylisse acknowledged her as a legitimate heir, which would probably never happen, she wouldn't take up the mantle of leadership again. She had failed her people and didn't deserve a second chance. Who would want a leader whose only accomplishment was that she was the only one left to tell her people's tale? Better to have someone who had prevented such a situation from occurring…

'_Grima...' _

She was surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I appreciate the thought, but no, that won't be necessary," Her father said, smiling at her. "Something tells me I can trust you."

For a very short moment, Lucina was a little girl again, watching as a slightly older version of her father patted her the same way. That was right before he went to his final battle, vanishing from her life forever. She could still remember an older version of Stahl trying, in vain, to console her emotional sister. She, herself, hadn't cried back then. She had pretended to be strong for Cynthia, but once she was alone...

_'Don't cry. Don't cry! He'll think I'm insane!'_

"I… thank you, Lord Chrom," she replied, managing a small smile.

'_Father… I'm glad I was able to see you once more before the end.'_

"Hehe, yay! Sis will be so pleased to meet you, Severa!" Lissa cried out. Lucina nodded; she would have liked to meet her legendary other aunt. However, she would probably disappear as soon as Robin died. Surely, an alteration of history that large would remove her from existence?

Of course, she realized as she watched the royal siblings, her life was a very small price to pay for the happiness of everyone else.

"But, my Lord-"

"My decision is final, Frederick," Chrom replied, slightly annoyed.

The elder man sighed. "Very well, then. Gods forbid we take an appropriate level of caution."

He poked the dark-robed man forward with his lance. "So how should we handle this man?"

Her father walked forward until he was within striking distance of Robin. "Wait! Please, Chrom, I mean, Lord Chrom! I… I really have no idea what this woman" –he pointed to Lucina- "is talking about. Surely this has to be some kind of mistake!"

Chrom looked towards the sky, as if looking for an answer in the endless blue.

"I have nothing against you," he eventually spoke. "But I can't ignore the warnings we have been given. The fact that you have no proof to counter Severa's does not help your case."

He sighed. "Bind him."

Robin suddenly jumped to the side and would have made a run for it, had Frederick's lance not landed right in front of him.

"The next one will not miss," he said icily, reaching for a second spear. "I suggest you remain where you are."

"So you would blindly take the word of a stranger accusing someone else of being a murderer," Robin spat towards her father as Frederick tied his arms behind his back. "Is this how justice is handled in Ylisse? As far as I know, my only crime is waking up in a field of grass!"

"Hold your impudent-!"

"Frederick, enough!" Chrom interjected, seeing the knight reach for his weapon. He eventually, grudgingly, lowered it.

"Look, don't worry," the blue haired lord eventually spoke to the tactician. "You'll get a fair trial and you will not be mistreated. If you didn't commit the crimes Severa claims, there should be no records on them in the capital city."

Lucina froze; of course there would be no such records. There also wouldn't be anything to really link him to any murders in the past, since all his crimes had yet to be committed in the future!

Robin would go free.

"No! Lord Chrom, please listen to me! You have no idea how dangerous this man really is," Lucina interjected. "He is directly responsible for the deaths of all of my closest friends, good men and women each! I watched helplessly as he tore them apart with dark magic, laughing as he did so! He will do the same to you if you do not end him!"

She took a deep breath. "_Please,"_ she asked emphatically, "If nothing else, grant my fallen comrades justice. Grant me the right to strike him down! I will do whatever you ask of me in return!"

"You are completely insane!" Robin cried out. "What makes you say I even have that kind of power? Don't you think I would have blown you up the moment you started sprouting that ridiculous nonsense, if I had? Because, quite frankly, I don't really care much for those who try to talk others into killing me!"

"Your conduct does not help your case," Frederick pointed out, levelling his lance. Robin tried to scuffle to the side but was held in place by the elder knights rough grip. "Orders, my lord?"

The tactician tensed, watching her father in fear.

_'This is it,' _Lucina realized. _'Just one thrust of the spear and the future will never come to pass. The world will be safe and I'll disappear.' _

The princess glanced around the lush fields of green surrounding them; nothing even remotely similar had existed in the future. Or at least, not that she knew of, anyway. If this was to be her final sight, it wasn't a poor one. At the very least, she could tell her friends that the world would have a chance.

"I… don't like this, Chrom," Lissa said hesitantly, shaking her out of her thoughts. "What if he's really lost his memory? This doesn't feel like something we should do."

"I don't trust him, my Lord," Frederick countered. "If you decide to trust Severa, I advise to go all the way. It takes just one lapse of judgment and one moment of weakness for you to die to a knife in the back."

"Please," Robin begged her father, "For the love of the gods, show mercy. Take me to your city and the records will prove I'm innocent."

"Lord Chrom, don't put yourself at risk by trusting him!" Lucina shouted.

"Oh? Why are you so upset? Do you think those records might show that YOU are the one lying?" Robin remarked sarcastically. "I'm sure _you_ have _nothing_ to hide, right?"

"You will kill all of us before we even get there!"

"ALL OF YOU, BE QUIET!" Chrom commanded.

And they did. There was something about his tone that forced obedience; It hadn't been coincidence that had seen him as the supreme commander of the Ylissean league, despite Ylisse being far weaker in terms of overall military strength than its allies...

...nor was it a coincidence that it had been called the _Ylissean _league in the first place.

"Sorry," he muttered after noting their frightened expressions.

"Severa," the prince began in his normal tone, "You claim to be someone from the past, and I believe you're at least partially telling the truth. However," he continued sternly, "executing unarmed prisoners in cold blood is something we've never condoned, nor something that I would support in any way. I can't speak for the rules of conduct in your time, but I find that prospect horrifying to say the least!"

"I-but..." Lucina sputtered.

_'No! I am only trying to keep you safe, father! Please don't make this any more difficult!'_

"I realize what I'm asking is less than chivalrous," she answered, recovering from being on the receiving end of her father's disapproval, "But you haven't been there to see the fields of corpses, entire cities ravaged with their inhabitants tortured and then sacrificed to his shims in barbaric rituals. When faced with such evil, thoughts of survival start to outweigh our noble ways."

"I can sympathize with your words if they are true," Chrom admitted, "But I will not step to that same level of barbarism without very good reason or proof. And even then, it still wouldn't be my call to make, as I'm not the Exalt."

_'... for now,' _Lucina added internally, bitterly reminded of Emmeryn's oncoming assassination.

The princess reluctantly agreed that he had a point. It frustrated her that he allowed his principles to get in the way of her mission, but wouldn't she have said the same thing if she had been in his shoes?

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to back off and kill Robin on her own accord somewhere along the way; there should be plenty of time until they reached Yllistol.

"All right," she conceded. "If you are willing to take that risk, then I'll defer to your judgement. However, I will not let that man out of my sight for an instant."

"Er... I hope that means one of us is going to keep an eye on _her_ all time the too, right?" Robin remarked meekly. "Not that I'm not flattered by the attention, but I'd rather reach the city alive."

Her father nodded. "Of course. I suppose that's an acceptable-"

"Chrom!" Lissa yelled in panic.

The lord whirled around. "Lissa? What's wrong?"

"Look over there!" her aunt cried.

"That's an awful lot of smoke," Robin concluded, frowning.

_'Brilliant observation,, o masterful tactician,'_ Lucina thought sarcastically. _'... wait, but what does that-'_

"Oh gods. The village!" said Chrom. "Damn it, everyone, move out!"

"My lord? What about the prisoner?" Frederick pointed out while mounting his horse. Robin was dragged after him by the robe binding his arms behind his back. If looks could kill, the knight would be a bloody mess.

"Put him on the horse with you," Chrom commanded, then rushed off.

"Lord Chrom, will you allow me to-" Lucina begun, stopping when she realized he was long gone. A moment later, Frederick rode by, carrying the scowling Robin on the back of his horse.

Just as she caught the tactician's eye, she froze.

There, on his face, was the same leering grin Grima had given her in the future. They locked eyes for a moment - and then it was gone again. Had she imagined it?

Lucina stormed after them, regardless.

* * *

They were met by a sea of flames.

Of the village, only the southernmost entrance was relatively spared from the fire.

It was easy to see why; the bandits were still busy looting it, breaking down windows to stores and hacking away at closed doors.

Screams of terrified villagers came through both the cackling fire and laughter of the bandits. Lucina was about to storm past her father, who had held still just on the outskirts, when she realised she didn't have a weapon.

"Why are we stopping!?" she cried. "We need to attack!"

"They outnumber us five to one," Chrom answered. "Four if you decide to join us, though you should know that I cannot guarantee your safety if you do."

"Yeah, seems like you are in trouble. Just four of you against... let's see, 15 or so bandits, if not more? Good luck with a frontal charge," Robin said sarcastically.

Chrom threw him a vicious glare. "Remember that you're alive only by my grace, stranger."

"True," The tactician admitted. "I meant no slight. I just wanted to point out that I be of use, if you decide to let me go."

"Don't listen to him; we don't need his help! Just grant me my Falchion!" Lucina demanded.

In the village, one of the bandits tore down a door and ran in. A few seconds later, he came out, dragging a struggling and screaming woman with him.

"Chrom! I'll be fine, just go!" Lissa urged.

In the village, a group of additional bandits came from nearby, carrying pillaged loot and what looked like a few unconscious bodies...

_'Other women,' _Lucina realized in horror.

Chrom hesitated, then turned to Robin. "What kind of help-"

_'NO. You are NOT doing this, father! _

Lucina did the only thing she could think of; she took two quick steps and deftly drew her father's falchion from its sheath. Then she stormed forward, summoning all of her speed and strength.

She ignored the cries behind her.

The fires of the village illuminated the area in a black and reddish cloud of smoke and lingering flame. Some bandits were obscured by smoke, some weren't. Of the ones who weren't, the one with the villager threw her on the ground and advanced on her-

To her side, a cloud of smoke cleared and she saw a plundering bandit just as he saw her. She darted forward and plunged the blade into his heart before he could even lift his weapon. The man let out a noise that sound like a screaming gurgle as he fell.

"Feddeck? What was-" Another bandit said just as he exited the same house through the missing door. His eyes widened. "Boss- Knight!" He cried before falchion tore through his arm and into his neck.

Lucina didn't stop running. As she further neared the square, she found some of the bandits with their weapons out, having been warning by the screaming. Some of the men looked at her disdainfully, yet most of them laughed.

"Pfah. Just one?" The apparent leader, the one with the cowering woman in front of him, scoffed. "Well, she's pretty good looking. Try not to hurt her too badly, eh boys? That would spoil the fun for later."

Just as he reached for the woman again, tearing her shirt apart as he did, Lucina realized just how badly she wanted all of these criminals to die. When they had fought against the Risen, it had been different; she hated them, too, but she had always known they were but soulless puppets in the end; tools created for something without a free will. In a way, she pitied them at the same time.

Against the Grimleal, that had, at the very least, contained some element of higher ideals clashing with each other; someone had made a choice for a different one, no matter how despicable that one was. She hated them as well.

Yet here, with these murderers and rapists, her hate was strongest of all. They had chosen to live their life sorely by exploiting and traumatizing others; and they deserved to die only in the most painful and humiliating way possible!

Her grip on the Falchion tightened. She counted eight bandits nearby, with some others just hanging back, smiling arrogantly.

The first two bandits came at her with swords, one shortly behind the other. She could tell just from the way they advanced that they were very poorly trained, though they obviously didn't need to be that good if they only preyed upon innocent civilians.

Lucina cried out in rage as the first bandit came within striking distance. He swung at her while she ducked and hacked off his leg in one clean stroke. Even as the rest of the shocked mercenary's body fell sideways, she continued the momentum into a forward swing and ended in a cross-lock with the man. He stumbled backwards from the force.

Now, there was hesitation in his eyes.

Lucina didn't give him a chance to act at all and withdrew her sword back to that the far end of his sword was against her near end. In this way, she had complete control of the lock. She then turned the handle of the falchion outward, raising his sword diagonally so that it pointed over her while as the same time exposing his neck completely. All she had to do was continue her forward momentum, and she did.

The body slid off to her side as she continued her run towards the leader.

There were collective gasps of outrage and disbelief as those bandits watching quickly dropped their bags of plunder, or captives, and pulled out their weapons. She reached one of them, an axe-wielder, before he did so and swiftly decapitated him.

Even as the man fell, she could feel her rage building higher. This would be the last town these men violated!

Her next target was a swordsman who had barely enough time to assume a basic defensive stance before she was upon him. He correctly assumed her overhead attack and moved to parry the blade. It was a move that normally would have worked.

However, Falchion was a legendary blade and she had momentum. The sword forged from Naga's fang broke the cheap weapon easily, as it did the man's skull.

The corpse fell backward as the next two attackers came in a pair. Behind them, she could see, to some surprise, a mage on the bandit's side readying a spell.

She continued heedless of that notion. It was time to fall back on an ancient sword technique. Two swings, one to unbalance the first as he made a wild swing...

The first bandit stumbled past her.

...the second to kill.

Her perception of the second enemy slowed by a fraction and she aimed the sword carefully. She then launched herself forward and impaled him upon the blade, straight through the heart.

She let go of the falchion and grabbed the man behind her just as he turned around to face her again, then forced him in between herself and the mage.

Sure enough, the next second a bolt of lightning hit him and he fell to the ground, shaking erratically. She jumped over the shaking man and pulled Falchion out of the first corpse as she ran. The mage would be next.

A vision of a Grimleal mage appeared before her and she held onto that image as the shocked man held up his tome in a feeble attempt to stop the falchion. Of course, the blade slid through paper even more easily than it did through bone.

By now, there were cries of panic coming from the remaining bandits, with some of them already making an attempt to flee. The bandit leader had stopped harassing his captive and quickly called out some orders. Three of the men listened and hastily put themselves between her and their boss.

The others ran, taking their plunder with them. They would be hunted down later.

The remaining three combatants in front of her were slow. They clearly lacked the kind of power and refinement that someone who had been fighting for her entire life had.

Just before she reached them, the bandits braced themselves. That, by itself, was already a fatal mistake since two of them were axe-wielders. If you used an axe, you HAD to be on the offensive; it was more or less impossible to defend yourself properly against an experienced attacker; the weapon simply wasn't designed for it. It was made for hacking into shields, helmets and the like, not to swiftly parry incoming attacks. Your chances of survival were MUCH better if you kept attacking and relied on your partners to come to your defense.

But then again, that probably wasn't the kind of knowledge a bunch of inexperienced and probably terrified rapists and looters would have. Or maybe they just never really had a reason to look into that.

Either way, Lucina didn't care. Her rage-fueled strike knocked the swordsman back just as the axeman behind him made a wild swing. She ducked into an overhead cleave which felled both men at the same time. The sore remaining swordsmen glanced around nervously as she came for him, noticing he was alone. He might have ran if she had given him the chance, but an upward into downward jumping slash combination took his life before he could.

Then, it was just her, the leader, and the captive.

For the first time since she had started fighting, she halted her advance.

"Y-you!" the bandit leader sputtered, holding his axe over the neck of his female victim. The blond woman's clothes were torn badly and she was sobbing softly. The man forced her to stand so that he could use her as a shield.

Lucina took a step forward.

"Don't think I won't cut her pretty little throat!" He warned.

Lucina idly wondered if this woman had lived or died in the original timeline. Did it matter? Would she have willingly given her life if it meant this piece of filth died?

The princess halted again just as she realized what she had just thought of doing. Since when did she consider human lives expendable?

"Drop it! Drop the sword!" The bandit yelled, scratching the woman's neck with his axe.

Lucina took a very quick glance back and saw that her father and Frederick were fighting some other bandits; the ones who had tried to run past her and to escape through the part of town that wasn't burning yet. Lissa and Robin were standing back, watching intently.

Her eyes widened in horror as she then saw the tactician draw a blade and approach father from behind. Was he going to-?

"Now! Drop it or I remove her head!" The bandit leader cried.

Lucina glanced back at the leader, her thoughts frantic. What to do? Come to her father's aid and let the leader go? Try to save the woman? Kill the leader and the woman, then come to her father's aid?

The choice was made for her as she met the terrified woman's eyes. There was nothing there but pure terror and sorrow. She couldn't bear the sight.

The swordswoman ignored the part of her that wanted this man to die and forced the Falchion into the ground in frustration.

The bandit leader grinned at the display. "Good! Now you come over here; you'll be my pretty little hostage instead."

The woman struggled to say something, but couldn't do it over the tight grip the man had on her neck and mouth. "You shut up!" the bandit yelled.

Lucina had already begun walking forward, slowly. Maybe she could-

"That's far enough!" the bandit commanded from just two paces away. She could smell his vile scent even through the fires. "Now turn around and face away from me!"

"How will I know you won't cut her the second I turn around?" Lucina challenged, trying to buy time. This man actually seemed to know what he was doing, and probably possessed a lot more raw strength, going by his bulk. If he actually took her hostage...

"Do you want to test me?" he growled just as he tightened his hold on the hostage further, who let out a strangled cry.

"Fine. Let her go and I'll turn," Lucina bargained, already facing to the side. Behind her, she could see her father -alive, thank the gods- and the others, even Robin, running up to them. She couldn't quite hear what they were calling out over the sound of the fire burning nearby.

The bandit considered for a moment, then let the woman go, after which she screambled away. True to her word, Lucina turned away.

She could hear the bandit closing the distance to her. In front of her, she was vaguely aware of the others almost reaching her. This time, she could clearly hear her father screaming her name.

Yet her vision wasn't on them; her sight was fixated on the falchion in the ground. On its shining surface, the part that wasn't covered in blood, was the reflection of the bandit behind her.

And that reflection had raised its axe to strike.

Lucina reflexively launched herself backward and crashed into him just as the axe swung by harmlessly overhead. In the same motion, she threw out her elbow backward into where she assumed the man's solar plexus was. A strangled cry of pain told her that she had struck true, and the bandit stumbled.

The next second she had slipped out behind him. Her rage came back as she took his head in a locking grip, then twisted it with all her might. One snapping sound later and the bandit's body fell limply to the floor.

In front of her, all the shephards looked at her with looks of varying degrees of incredulity and awe.

She ignored them for now and turned to the hostage, who was still lying on the floor and breathing heavily.

"Don't worry," Lucina told her. "You're safe."

Yet even as she approached her, the woman tried to scramble away in fear.

* * *

Unfortunately, defeating the bandits had only been the first step in saving what was left of the village. Some of the braver citizens had come out of hiding in an effort to put out the flames, and they would have helped them were it not for the fact that there were still bandits who had escaped.

It had become clear almost immediately that there were at least some women still missing, meaning that the bandits who had escaped still had them as prisoners. Maybe it had been the bandits who had ran in other directions after the shepherds had attacked, or maybe it had been those who'd already left the village before they even arrived.

The shepherds had been granted horses by the caretaker of the local stables. Apparently, the bandits had kept the building spared in orders to use the horse for a fast escape, or perhaps sell the horses elsewhere for high prices. Regardless, they were very thankful that they had the means to give chase quickly.

They had set out immediately afterwards. Chrom had, wisely, decided to leave Lissa behind before they went; The excuse he'd given he'd given her was that they needed someone to coordinate the fire fighting, and, when that was done, talk to the terrified villagers who were still hiding in their houses and refused to come out. Her aunt seemed to believe it and agreed.

Of course, the real reason was that he wanted to spare her the gruesome scenes of rape they would probably encounter.

With great reluctance, Lucina had finally consented to allow Robin to help in the fighting, though on the sole condition that he would be rebound immediately when they were done. It was an arrangement of concessions; there was no way she would let him out of her sights, and there was no way Chrom would leave Robin behind with just her and Lissa, justifiably worried that she'd execute him on the spot. The only option had been to take him along with the three of them.

Even though Robin claimed to know how to cast spells from tomes, Lucina had insisted that he used a sword, since she knew he was a vastly inferior martial combatant to all of them. If he used tomes, she couldn't be sure he wasn't a threat; in the past, Robin had eventually grown to be an exceptionally powerful mage, whether or not that had been because of him secretly accepting Grima's dark power. She had no intention whatsoever to test just how good he was at this moment in time, if it could be helped.

Also, even though she was ashamed to admit it, she had given serious thought to turning on her father and Frederick now that she was armed again and relatively isolated from the rest of the world.

She had decided against it for two reasons; first, even though she was probably stronger than them, could she take down all three men without having to resort to inflicting grievous and possibly lasting injuries on either her father or Frederick? They were innocent, and she wanted to avoid harming them if at all possible.

Secondly, they were out here to rescue innocent women from bandits, and sabotaging that attempt was something she couldn't condone, no matter what was at stake.

… Or was it? Images of the barren wasteland that made up the majority of the world in the future filled her mind, and instilled doubt. Was preventing the apocalypse not worth any cost?

She had already decided that her own life was a small price to pay…

Her thoughts had been cut short when they came upon a small bandit camp, where some of the raiders were busy lavishly abusing their prisoners. They obviously hadn't expected anyone to be chasing them, since there weren't even any proper lookouts to guard the encampment. At that moments, all that remained of Lucina had been cold rage.

The shepherds had overrun the bandits almost immediately; they were now all dead.

However, the women they'd taken with them would likely never be the same.

The most horrible thing, perhaps, had been that some of them had been already dead when they found them. Lovingly raised by their families for many years, then brutally abused and killed in less than a few hours, and for what? She didn't want to imagine what kind of horror and shame they must have felt at the end of their lives.

There was a flash of Grima in a dark void, leering at her before he grabbed her and-

She resolutely shook her head. No; that was something different and Lady Tiki had undone the damage. Thinking too much of it would lead to madness…

There would be no such quick recovery for these women.

'_At least they have their families to help them during the process,'_ Lucina thought as she looked over the village square. Some craftsmen were busy breaking off some parts of the burned buildings, while others were delivering fresh materials to them. There were very few women out, overall, though it was easy to guess why.

Perhaps, in time, the village could grow over it. If she'd seen this same image in the future, it would probably have filled her with joy; a clear sign of civilized humanity being able to overcome hardships.

Strange , how the same thing filled her with sorrow now. She supposed it was all a matter of context and perspective…

"Severa?" A voice came from the side. Lucina didn't respond immediately, first taking care to repress the memories that name carried. It was still a bit hard getting used to the fact that she'd probably not be called by her own name for quite a while, if ever again.

"Lord f-Chrom?" she then asked, turning around. Gods, she couldn't afford to almost slip up like this, nor grow emotional every time they talked!

However, her father didn't seem to notice.

"I came to see how you were doing," he explained, resting his arms on the stone railing of the bridge beside her. "I'm sorry you had to see all that."

The princess shook her head. "You have my gratitude for your concern, but I've seen things that are a lot worse."

"Then I am doubly sorry," he insisted. "The distant past must have been a horrible place."

She looked away. "Compared to this? … Yes, I suppose it was."

There was an awkward moment of silence in which they both glanced over the village. Frederick was standing in the distance, hands behind his back as he gave a speech to some villagers regarding something, all of them listening intently. The knight then handed out some papers. Whatever was on them, the villagers stared at it with great interest.

Meanwhile, Robin was up on a roof, helping some other villagers replace the burned woodwork. He was quite far up; with any luck, he'd fall down and break his neck, saving her the trouble. Unfortunately the tactician actually seemed to know what he was doing, despite him claiming amnesia. She admitted grudgingly that she probably should have been there to help them as well. However, she'd been busy washing the blood off of her clothes to make herself at least slightly more presentable; in retrospect, it was easy to see why the female hostage had been so afraid of her.

Nearby, Lissa was playing a game with a few of the children; those brave enough to venture outside. They laughed as she huffed in her trademark 'not delicate' scoff. More than likely, the annoyance was faked and she had allowed them to win; it was just her own way of doing what she could to brighten the day. Lucina felt nostalgic at the sight; that was so like her aunt. Even in the future she had always tried to keep everyone smiling.

Her aunt caught their looks, and waved at them energetically. She then pointed at them, and the small flock of children turned as one to wave them their own greetings.

Her father returned the gesture.

'_No, I can't even remember the last time I saw a group of smiling children,' _Lucina reflected.

"You were very brave today," her father continued. "And your swordsmanship was on a level far above any I've ever seen before; it was really worthy of a hero of legend."

Lucina allowed herself a small smile. "You are too kind, my Lord. Yet, I fight only in the way I was taught."

'_By you,' _she added inwardly.

"I think you are too modest," Chrom replied, glancing over her. "But please, drop the formality. It feels very strange for you to call me 'Lord' when we're related. Even if we're over a thousand years apart."

Lucina nodded slowly. "All right then, 'Chrom'. If that is what you wish."

To use her father's name without any title or family reference felt very strange to her. Then again, this entire situation was really strange. In her time, he had already died. In his time, she had yet to exist. For them to actually be talking to eachother…

"Tell me, what was Iris like? In your past, I mean?" her father continued, starting a slow walk towards the town square. The princess idly noticed that though some of the villagers noticed them and started pointing towards them in excitement, others exchanged worried glanced and backed away further to the sides. Likely, they thought their saviours could turn on them in a moment's notice. Well, considering they were defenceless and had just been sacked, she supposed she couldn't blame them...

"Do you believe me, then?" Lucina asked, catching up to her father's side.

The lord frowned. "Honestly? I do admit I was sceptical at first. However, you've saved a lot of lives today, perhaps even our own. Your courage and your skill, along with the falchion and the brand prove that you're on our side and mean us well. At least, that is what I'd like to think."

Lucina realized it was an evasive answer. "Does that mean you do not?"

Her father stopped walking and faced her. "Follow me," was all he said as he went down an alley, one spared from the fires. With everyone working on repairing the main square, it was deserted. Lucina ignored a rising feeling of discomfort as Chrom remained silent.

"I know you are lying," he then casually said, as if discussing the weather.

"I-What?" Was all she managed. If- How- Did he know the truth? If he did, if he somehow KNEW who she was, would she still be born? Was she in danger of being erased from existence even now?

"You aren't who you claim you are," her father calmly repeated, then looked her straight in the eyes. "It's pointless to deny it."

And again, Lucina felt like a little girl caught doing something she knew was forbidden.

"...How did you know?" she asked, not wanting to discredit herself further.

"Because I lied," her father replied. "I _do_ know of the Severa from legends. And her brand was on her left hand, _not_ in her eye. I know, because when I was young, I once checked to see if any of the great heroes of legend had their brand in the same place I do. I know it was a silly thing thing to do; I never imagined it would turn out as valuable information."

"I... see," Lucina looked away in shame, unsure of what to say. Had she just failed her mission permanently? Was the only thing left to do to break ties with her father and to go after Robin herself? On the village square, in plain view of all the villagers? Somewhere else along the way?

...It would be a lonely road, regardless. If she even made it out, that was. She was convinced that if he gave the call, Frederick wouldn't be far away.

"Do you want to re-introduce yourself?" Chrom asked, his voice pleasant. "I'd like to remind you that you're not very good at lying. What if I didn't know for sure and had just made that up? You'd have given yourself away."

The princess met his eyes in surprise; he wasn't angry? "I... but wait, if you knew that, then why did you trust me? Why didn't you take me prisoner as well?"

"I wanted to see what you would do," her father answered. "I don't meet other wielders of the Falchion every day. Maybe if you hadn't come to the village's aid as you had, I'd have believed Frederick's claim of you being a spy. But when you were able to use MY Falchion, the one I know for sure has to be real, that removed any remaining doubt. You ARE a real member of the royal family, even if you're not the one you claimed."

He briefly paused. "And, um..." He scratched his head and looked away. "That aside, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forward to a spar. Something tells me I have a lot to learn from you."

Lucina chuckled despite the situation; that was _so_ like her father. "Thank you, lord... no, 'Chrom.' I'll look forward to that, as well."

"Good to hear that. Though that still doesn't answer who you really-"

Lucina was saved from having to think of another lie on the spot as her aunt's voice rang from across the alley.

"Chrom!" Lissa cried, then ran over to them. "So? How did it go? Did she say yes!?" she asked energetically.

Lucina blinked then addressed her father in confusion. "'Say yes?' To what?"

"I hadn't gotten to that part yet," he replied apologetically. "However, like I said, it was clear to all of us that you possess great skill, a selfless attitude and a strong sense of justice. All of those are qualities we are always looking for."

The princess' heart skipped a beat as she realized what he was about to ask. She repressed the wave of melancholy emotions.

"We were hoping that, during your stay here, you'd consider accompanying us further on our patrols," he explained. "Ylisse doesn't have a large standing army in this time, but we have a group of volunteers named 'the shepherds' who safeguard the lands."

"That's us!" Lissa chirped in. "Though there's only three of us here, there are a lot more of us in the capitol."

Her father nodded. "So how about it? Would you like to join us?"

_'Yes! Of course I want to!'_

"Hmmm..." she pretended to think. "I will, but I do have one condition."

Her father nodded expectantly while Lissa barely restrained her joy.

"If I join you, I must ask of you to never let Robin into your ranks. Even if you do not believe me fully, please know that I am completely serious when I say that he _murdered_ all of my friends," she emphasised, causing both other members of the royal family to sober up. "I would feel extremely guilty if he managed to harm anyone in your time because I was not able to convince you of his evil."

"I have watched him fight," her father replied. "And he doesn't seem-"

"Chrom, I will not drop this request," she pressed. "In my time, he is infamous for his ability to befriend and mislead. If I must leave you to take my warning seriously, I will, even though I have nowhere else to go and would rather stay."

Her father searched her eyes for any trace of deception, then exchanged a glance with Lissa. Her aunt shrugged, then crossed her arms.

"All right, that is acceptable. We will never invite Robin into our ranks," Chrom finally agreed.

The princess felt hope rise inside her. At the very least, if Robin never really joined, he'd never be able to kill her father... right?

"Yes! Now you just come with me," her aunt said, after which she grabbed her arm and dragged her along. For all her petite figure, Lissa was _surprisingly_ strong.

"Um, wait, where are we going?" Lucina hesitantly asked her aunt as they began to walk.

"Huh? Well, as a longer standing member of the shephards, I hereby appoint myself to make sure you are properly dressed! We're going to buy you for a new set of clothes. I mean, just look at you; your outfit is torn all over! I can even see the skin through some parts of it, and I don't think that's intentional, is it?" Lissa surmised, sounding somewhat like her best friend.

"Oh, I see," Lucina replied, blushing slightly upon re-examining herself. Yes, she had done a fairly good job at removing the blood but that didn't make the cuts she suffered from Grima's spell any less noticeable. At the part where her armour had been destroyed, the skin was in plain view. She didn't think much of it but...

"But wait, I need to watch Robin! What if he attacks-"

"Oh hush you, Frederick is watching him and he'll be fine," her aunt countered without missing a beat.

"I... Well, I'll leave you to that, then," Chrom said, excusing himself. "Oh, and Lissa?" he added, causing her to halt. The pig-tail haired woman deftly caught a large bundle of gold he threw at her. "Get everyone something to eat too, and buy a few extra supplies if you can find them. Make sure you give generous tips," he said. "I'm sure that more than a few stores here have been destroyed and that the villagers will appreciate a bit more gold to go around."

Lissa huffed. "I know that, you worry-wart."

Before Lucina could say or do anything else, her aunt had pulled them around the corner and out of her father's view.

* * *

Chrom watched them go in amusement. He wasn't quite sure what to think of 'Severa' yet, but for now she seemed like a genuinely good person. And, if he were completely honest with himself, she made him question his own martial prowess after that stunt with the bandits, something no one else had ever done. Eleven seemingly effortless kills in a matter of seconds, one of which even without a weapon, was no mean feat to say the least. He severely doubted whether or not he could have performed something similar had he led the charge instead.

But then there were so many questions about her, too, even aside from her real Identity or why she had lied about it. First, why did he feel she could be trusted? And why did her fighting style stir some feeling of familiarity? He had been told that some forms of magic could force you to trust a total stranger, yet he believed that wasn't the case. There was something about the enigmatic blue haired woman...

He shook his head; for now, Lissa seemingly had things under control. He'd have to worry about other things, such as the angry mayor demanding patrols to be stepped up in the region. As he watched the destruction the bandits had wrought upon the town square, he wondered if raids like these were an acceptable price to pay for his country having a relatively feeble military.

His gut told him that it wasn't and that they had to expand the army soon, no matter how Plegia would view it. What good was staying in their good graces if it meant that they couldn't protect their own citizens? It was completely unacceptable in his opinion.

Just as the thought went through his mind, he locked eyes with Robin, who was now helping some villagers move some freshly sewn wooden planks to a different building. HE stumbled once, causing the other villagers to quickly hold and reinforce their grip on the heavy planks. The dark-robed man laughed off the incident and further went on his way.

So far, nothing the man had done had pointed to him being a dangerous murderer, except possibly that comment on that he would have killed Severa if he really had the power she claimed him to have.

But then Severa's voice reached him again, filled with emotion: _"He murdered all of my friends! I was forced to watch helplessly as he tore them apart with dark magic!"_

_'Then what are you hiding, Robin?' _he wondered.

* * *

The black void stretched on endlessly as Grima descended into the consciousness of his devoted one. "VALIDAR," he stated, causing the projection of his physical being to whirl around in fright and then promptly bow deeply.

"My, my lord Grima? Is it truly you who is speaking to me? Why have you been silent to me for so long?" the human asked.

"DO NOT BOTHER ME WITH POINTLESS QUESTIONS. MY PRESCENCE NOW SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT, IS IT NOT?"

"Of course, my lord! I couldn't feel more honoured by your visit!" the man hastily said.

Grima considered punishing him for his lack of faith, then decided against it. He needed this human, for now at least, as tasteless as it were to admit it.

"ARE THE GRIMLEAL READY? CAN THEY ATTACK ON YOUR COMMAND?"

"Now? My lord? Well, yes, but-"

"GOOD. LISTEN CAREFULLY, FOR I BRING KNOWLEDGE FROM THE FUTURE. THERE ARE CERTAIN EVENTS THAT HAVE TO BE SET INTO MOTION, AND CERTAIN MISTAKES THAT CANNOT BE MADE," Grima said as he started explaining.

Validar, in turn, listened quietly, though his grin grew ever wider as the plan unfolded.

"I see, my lord," he finally replied. "But if we are to move now, then where would we strike?"

The dark dragon snorted, blowing out cloud of purple smoke through his nostrils. Such an obvious answer. "YLLISE, OF COURSE," he said, repressing another urge to punish the human. "BUT I HAVE SPOKEN TO MY AVATAR," the dark god continued, "WE HAVE AN ANNOYANCE TO DEAL WITH FIRST, AND I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO FIND HER."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

Some parts of this chapter were fairly hard to write. The main theme of Lucina trying to kill Robin is fleshed out a bit more, but Lucina's uncertainty concerning what she can and cannot do in order to preserve her existence, for now, gets in the way. I figured that Lucina would also never prioritize killing Robin over saving innocent civilians and would also never hurt the other shephards unless there was no other way, but I suppose that for a traumatized Lucina this is debatable. Would you do it, in her position?

Regarding the realism level: I'm sorry if I shocked anyone, but the fairy tale ending of a group of knights riding into a village, beating the bandits and everything being completely fine afterwards just doesn't exist. There's always lasting damage, be it trauma, deaths, rape, etcetera. I try to be a bit different from the usual stories in actually protraying these things. I am wondering though, if the readers feel this level is already too explicite.

I think I portrayed most of the shephards fairly well, though I found Chrom surprisingly hard to do, mostly because we don't see him that often in situations that do not revolve immediately around either battles, war, training or family (then again, I suppose this is an excuse that could be given to any fire emblem character in any game). Also, Lucina is a little OOC regarding one aspect of her, but that is intentional. I'll leave it to the readers to find out which, though it should be fairly obvious since it is more or less in the text :)

Well, that was everything I wanted to discuss from the top of my hat. If you liked (or disliked) it, please leave a review to show me what you felt was strong or weak about the story. I'm always open to criticism or suggestions.

-kind regards,

Dieuwtjin


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